STEM curriculum at KIPP charter schools brings real world into classrooms
Students at KIPP Collegiate High School are engaged in a STEM project aimed at helping them better understand structures and their “real-world applications.”
Or at least, that’s one way to put it.
More bluntly, they will learn that if a bridge — say, the Hernando De Soto Bridge — is either not built correctly or not maintained properly, it likely will plunge into the Mississippi River if put under enough stress.
Said bridge was closed for a time in 2021 when, as an investigation by The Daily Memphian discovered “teams of Arkansas bridge inspectors, going back years, failed to notice a major separation in the bridge’s steel tie girders.”
So, yes, that’s about as real-world as it gets. Memphis lies at the edge of the NewMadrid Seismic Zone. A compromised bridge and an earthquake could be apotentially catastrophic combination.
Which makes the high school students’ project all the more relevant.
“They’re building a three-dimensional truss system so it’s a four-sided tower, and theyare looking for specifi c applications,” said Keith Booker, the STEM director at KIPP,which is a tuition-free public charter school system. “These are going to be tested forseismic strength.
“They will tie all four sides together so the tower has five floors above the ground floor and then we test it with what we call a `shake’ table, where we can simulate different magnitudes of earthquake based on the frequency of the shake table, so that they are able to see the real-world applications.”
The students are working in teams and the project is not done yet, but already 10th-grader Paula Torres has a new perspective.
“What I’ve fi gured out is whoever has to check the bridges — that’s a super importantjob for safety,” she said. “So, building a bridge the correct way is something we really have to look at.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s view on STEM (science, technology, engineeringand math) curriculum is clear: “In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it’smore important than ever that our nation’s youth are prepared to bring knowledge andskills to solve problems, make sense of information and know how to gather andevaluate evidence to make decisions.”
Which is a vastly different approach than old-school science and math classes with ateacher droning on at the front the room, students following along (or not) in theirtextbooks and then taking a test with pencil and paper.
KIPP’s elementary, middle and high schools started STEM classes last year, but this isthe fi rst year the high school has a STEM lab. It came to be after Chief of SchoolsLischa Brooks’ grant proposal netted $2 million from the Tennessee Department of Education over four years, for the STEM Center of Excellence. A ribbon-cutting isscheduled for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 4 at the high school.
“We planted the seed last year with STEM classes,” Brooks said. “Now, it’s at a completely different level.”
Elementary and middle school students come over to the STEM lab once a month. The high school students have daily access. It really is three labs in one: engineering, coding and agriculture/biotechnology.
“The STEM labs are cool,” said ninth-grader Jerry Baker. “I think the robotics class isgoing to be my favorite.”
The KIPP tagline, Brooks says, is “a future without limits,” adding: “We’re thinkingabout their tomorrow. We’re thinking about setting them up.”
Obviously, that will mean college for many of them. KIPP recently hosted more than60 colleges and universities. Young Jerry Baker, for one, doesn’t just envision going tocollege for a degree, but three of them: “Bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate.”
Other students might learn enough about computer coding or the culinary artsthrough KIPP’s STEM curriculum to go straight into their career fi elds.
“We have 3-D printers and they’ll be about to take a test and receive certification,” Brooks said. “We’re working with Code Crew, and our students in coding will be able to receive certification.”
Lashondra Skinner is teaching a STEM class after previously teaching science classesthat were “straight textbook learning.” She’s just getting started with her students, butshe can already see a marked difference.
“With STEM, you learn each step is just as important as the final result,” Skinner said.“That’s the best part, because each part is so intricate, and you have to understand each part of the project, and all of the kids are more engaged in it.
“And as they get to the final result, they understand why the first step was as important as the final step.”
Booker, the STEM director, believes it is critical that the STEM curriculum starts inelementary school.
“That allows our students to start young and grow with the program,” he said.
For instance, this quarter is about structures. Young grade school students arelearning about the structure of plants. Middle school students are learning about thebasic elements of the truss bridge system and the high school students are doinghands-on projects on the structure of bridges.
“Memphis had an issue with their bridge,” Skinner said. “And so, that kind of broughtthem into the lesson. They can bring real life into the classroom, and then take theclassroom back into real life.”
In class, the high school students working in groups are having discussions — fi guringout the right way to do something to make the project a success (no one wants their tower to collapse on the “shake” table).
“You really bond with the people in your group,” ninth-grader Andrea Green said. “Youlearn a lot of different things. Some people are competitive, but at the same time somegroups will notice when people are struggling and try to help.”
Meantime, occupational glass ceilings are beginning to crack.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that STEM jobs will increase 10.8%by 2031. Also, BLS data for 2021 showed the median annual income of STEMemployees topped $95,000, while non-STEM workers made about $40,000 annually.
“This is broadening their horizons in so many ways,” Skinner said, adding that she has even told her students about the animated TV series “The Jetsons,” which first aired in1962 but had a comeback in the 1980s and focused on futuristic technology.
“I tell them to go back and look at everything they were doing then, it’s happening now,” Skinner said. “You’ll understand how fast technology changes and it starts with you guys.
“I tell them, `You’re not a millionaire as a teacher, but with an engineering degree …’”
You just never know where a limitless future might go.